no matter, he has four more days to come up with a new argument. time is short. >> i can tell this is a rowdy crowd. >> a better than expected jobs report. >> pretty solid report. >> this is a great report. >> this guy had a lot of coffee this morning. >> and desperate times call for desperate measures for mitt romney. >> sold chryslers to italians who are going to build jeeps in china. >> it's not true. everybody knows it's not true. you don't scare hard-working americans just to scare up some votes. that's not what being president is all about. ohio, i'm not ready to give up on the fight. >> i don't know how close you're watching the president's campaign. my guess is you're not seeing a lot of msnbc, but if you -- i'm

not familiar with precisely with exactly what i said but i stand by what i said whatever it is. ♪ >> we are in the final four days to the presidential election and it's all come down to four words with four letters, ohio, ohio, ohio, ohio. in the next four days the president and mitt romney will visit ohio on no less than six separate occasions. the president has just wrapped -- actually he's just about to start his third rally in the state and you can feel the energy of this final push with a fired up crowd and a president ready to go. >> you may not agree with every decision i have made. you may be frustrated sometimes at the pace of change. but you know what i believe. you know where i stand. you know i tell the truth.

you know that i'll fight for you and your family every single day as hard as i know how. you know that. >> and further to this issue of trust, the president took aim at mr. romney for misleading voters with egregious and desperate claims that chrysler is moving jeep production to china. >> it's not true. everybody knows it's not true. the car companies themselves have told governor romney to knock it off. you don't scare hard-working americans just to scare up some votes. that's not what being president is all about. >> no, it isn't what being president is all about, but it is what the romney campaign is all about, as he demonstrated today in wisconsin trading rolled up sleeves for his salesman's suit and warning voters that a vote for the president could mean another recession, among other horrors.

>> the same path we're on means $20 trillion in debt in four years. it means crippling unemployment continues. it means stagnant take-home pay, depressed home values, and a devastated military, and unless we change course, we may well be looking at another recession. >> yes, i guess someone told mr. romney it's the day of the dead. all he's missing there are a few skeletons as stage props. hang on, what about those jobs numbers showing persistent economic growth? the report today showing employers added 171,000 jobs in october, more than expected. what about the revisions upward of jobs gained in august and september. never mind, let's go to a key romney supporter for his take. >> i have to say that despite those unimaginably horrible good job numbers, feeling pretty confident. >> yes, while romney did not get the endorsement of mayor michael bloomberg, he did get the

backing of one montgomery burns and a confident endorsement at that. >> there's only one thing that might deny us the presidency that is the god-given property of the republican party. >> the 47% tape? >> nope. >> the empty chair? >> nope. >> cayman islands? >> not a problem. >> swiss bank accounts 10000 bet, i like to fire people, forcible hair cut, the tax returns wesley snipes would call suspicious. >> no, no, no and no. >> none of that. it will probably just be let detroit go bankrupt. before we get to our panel we want to listen in to the president who has taken the stage for a third campaign event of the day this one in lima, ohio. let's listen. >> we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. today our businesses have created nearly 5.5 million new jobs, and this morning we learned that companies hired more workers in october than in

any time in the last eight months. home values are on the rise. housing construction is moving up. we're less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last 20 years. because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in iraq is over, the war in afghanistan is coming to a close, al qaeda has been decimated, and osama bin laden is dead. [ cheers and applause ] oh, oh, oh, and one more thing -- an american auto industry that had been written off is back on top of the world. [ cheers and applause ]

so we've made real progress these last four years, but ohio, we're here because we know we've got more work to do. as long as there is a single american who wants a job and can't find one, as long as there are families who are working harder and harder but falling behind, as long as there's a child somewhere in lima or anywhere in ohio or anywhere from the continue who is languishing in poverty and barred from opportunity, then our fight goes on. our work is not yet done. our fight goes on because we know that this nation cannot succeed without a growing and thriving middle class. our fight goes on because america always does best, always thrives when everybody gets a fair shot, when everybody is doing their fair share, when everybody is playing by the same

rules. that's what we believe, that's why you elected me in 2008, and that's why i'm running for a second term as president! >> the president speaking at his third campaign event in lima, ohio. indeed, the senior high school there. let's bring in our esteemed panel. with us from washington, democratic strategist julian epstein, in philadelphia, professor james peterson of lehigh university, and also in washington michelle cottle of "newsweek" and the daily beast. julian, it's another disastrous jobs number for mitt romney. the 25th consecutive month of job growth under this president. that's almost 5.5 million jobs created, and that added to mr. smithers who we showed earlier listing off romney gaffes, i guess it's a tough day for the republican nominee, isn't it? >> yeah. and you remember the romney spokesman said they wouldn't be detracted by fact checkers. well, the facts are coming home to roost if you will. the central thesis of the romney campaign has been that the recovery is not working.

we now know that is false. we really are probably looking at somewhere closer to 200,000 jobs created in the last month if you include those self-employed. when obama came in we were at negative 800,000 a month. that's a positive swing of a million. that means we're closer to 3% gdp growth. when obama came in it was negative 9 cl%. that's a 12-point swing. the question of whether or not this economy has turned the corner is no longer a question. it's turned the corner thanks mostly to the work of president obama. >> professor, romney today tried to provide a vision of what he'd like to do as president. let's take a listen to mr. romney. >> i know that when i'm elected the economy and the american job market will still be stagnant, but i won't waste any time complaining about my predecessor. i won't spend my effort trying to pass partisan legislation that's unrelated to economic

growth. gee said he won't spend his time complain being his predecessor. in fact, he'll take credit for the economic recovery that's under way as he took credit for the success of the education in massachusetts even though he was only governor for four years. >> clearly the economy is not stagna stagnant. there are a lot of different statistical data that suggests the economy is slowly but steadily recovering, and it's real interesting for mr. romney to sort of suggest he's not going to play social conservative politics when he's been playing social conservative politics all throughout his campaign. all of his sort of commentary about women's issues and reproductive rates. his commentary about race and class and education, all the things he's been talking about in terms of his campaign have been on the socially conservative sizde. it doesn't make sense he wouldn't appoint judges that are socially conservative and engage in politics that are socially

conservative and play to the tea party base of the republican party. that doesn't make sense unless he's playing fast and furious with the truth. according to what he's done up to this point, martin, i'm not sure we can trust him on this idea that he's not going to engage in socially conservative politics. >> michelle, to professor peterson's point, romney says, and i'm quoting him, i went spend my effort trying to pass partisan legislation unrelated to economic growth. so i guess all those severe conservatives who helped romney win the nomination, i mean, did he lie it them as well? >> well, that's the interesting thing. no one knows. no one knows what kind of mitt romney we would get in the white house. and those who are comforted like david brooks and some people have talked about how they're comforted by the fact he's a flip-flopper and he would be more likely to work through some bipartisan reform. on the other hand, he's going to be dealing with a severely conservative house republican conference, and they're not going to give an inch on him. i'm not sure how we expect him

to get anything done when he's going to be dealing with the same intransigent group we've been looking at. >> but to that point, julian, when david brooks and t"the times" says romney will work with this congress doesn't that mean romney will fall down and allow people to drive through the brutal and callous legislation they would seek? >> david brooks is probably my favorite columnist after michelle cottle that is, but this kind -- >> i share that view. >> this kind of endorsement from him is kind of like a drunken toast from a best man. it's essentially saying romney is a good candidate because he's about as hollow as the tin man and he will fold depending what the political winds are which is hardly a very strong endorsement for a presidency. but even aside -- leaving aside the backhanded compliment, it's also just wrong. listen to what colin powell has

said this week. listen to what mayor bloomberg said this week. listen to what chris christie said this week. obama governs from the center. you contrast that to everything dr. patterson was saying, how this guy has campaigned when he needed the social conservatives to get the primary -- to get the nomination, he catered to every single right wing wing nut policy position like he was running for the president of the john burch society. the idea he would not be a marionette is betrayed by the facts of the campaign. >> the wonderful character of willard mitt romney. julian, dana -- sorry, that's wrong, julian, michelle, cottle, and professor james peterson, thank you so much. and if you can't get enough, we have got a special election edition live from democracy plaza at 30 rock tomorrow, saturday night, at 7:00 p.m. so please do join us. next, if you can't keep them from the polls, keep them from casting their vote. stay with us.

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the president is speaking live at this very moment in lima, ohio. his third stop in the battleground buckeye state where every single vote is sure to count. the republican plan to win the white house is now in its third and final phase. first they wanted to depress voter registration among democrats, then they moved on to encouraging states to create new and unnecessary voter i.d. laws, and now they're planning to intimidate voters even if they turn up to pledge their votes. for more on this issue i'm delighted to welcome ari melber, a lawyer and correspondent for "the nation" magazine and karen

finney, a columnist for the hill and an msnbc political analyst. karen, in virginia the election officials are caught warning residents about anonymous callers who are saying things over the phone that are intimidating. in florida similar tactics targeting black and hispanic voters but there are also deceitful actions at actual polling stations. >> absolutely. there have been reports in colorado and also earlier in nevada of people also tearing up voter registration forms if you didn't register republican. you also have people coming up to individuals who are trying to do early vote asking them for their i.d. even though they have no right to ask them for their i.d. there have been reports of people filming people going in and out of polling locations. we have heard some stories about both during the voting reg strak process and we're hearing it's going to happen again on election day of intentionally starting fights, intentionally creating a ruckus so if you get there and the line is long and there's a fight going on, you

know, anything they can do to make it harder for to you stand there and vote. >> from your perspective, how does an he will telderly persons up without formal photo i.d. copes when a young person who appears to be professional approaches them and starts asking them questions about i.d.? >> that's part of why the democrats we call our folks who go to the polls vote protectors and the republicans call their folks vote challengers. there will be volunteers to try to monitor and make sure that stuff isn't happening. one of the key messages we will tell people over the weekend is if you get there and you get in line, you have a right to vote. there will be lawyers on hand that are making sure if there's a problem, we'll get you a ro provisional ballot. we'll get the polls kept own later. we'll figure out a way if you're in line, you will get to vote. >> the battle over voter fraud laws are likely to continue.

but i had a sense when i was talking to you earlier that some see very positive results coming from the supreme court's decision on ohio early voting. is that a view you share? >> i think so. people have given a lot of attention to the fact that originally the supreme court did allow voter i.d. which we have seen causes all of these problems. on the other hand, when ohio republicans tried to do this year, as you're pointing out, is stop early voting in ohio. when a federal judge told them they couldn't stop it, the republicans took it to the supreme court and the supreme court unanimously shut that down and basically said you have to keep the early voting open and it was unanimous. that's pretty significant. we think of this court as being polarized and on many key issues it is, but i think on early voting which is where voting is going from 33% last cycle to upward of 40% this cycle which is a way to deal with problems, if you vote early and you run into problems, you have more time left than on voting day.

>> many viewers may be saying what rational argument is there for stopping early voting? >> well, if you think it's going to be close in a state, right, we just heard yesterday some reports that absentee ballots in ohio mysteriously disappeared. we know a lot of things go down in ohio and ohio may very well be another place where we're fighting it out. >> what i would add to that though, i think for a lot of people, there was a lot of excitement around barack obama's first campaign and there was a feeling that they tried to stop him and failed. this time it's personal. this time they're trying to stop all of us. so i would just echo what karen said which is for anyone in terms of news you can use, if you are at the polls, if someone approaches you as you're on your way in or in the line, you don't have to engage them. you can find your own help, your own support. keep your phone on you. if you have a twitter or other things you can document while you're there, you can use those, and figure out your way to stay and get in line before the polls close. if you're in line, you have the right to stay in line and cast your vote no matter how long.

bring warm clothes, bring water, and keep in touch. >> and the law protects you. >> yes, it does. >> karen, it's not just voter deception, also voter intimidation because we learned this week that a wisconsin venture capitalist, a man who has given money to dick armey's freedom works is behind billboards in poor areas of ohio and wisconsin warning residents they could be arrest fd they commit voter fraud. why would he be doing that? >> i can't imagine. yet here we have been hearing all these interesting predictions about how romney is going to win in wisconsin and how romney is going to win in iowa and guess what? both iowa and wisconsin we've also heard that romney poll watcher volunteers were given misinformation about what kind of i.d. you need to have when you go to vote. they will actually be doing the job incorrectly when they get there. it's all a coincidence though, martin. i don't want to you think there's any kind of, you know, right wing conspiracy to any of that. >> i feel -- listening to karen

finney i just feel better. but i do think this is bigger than this election. this is the oldest battle in american democracy. if you define democracy as everyone being able to technically vote, we are a very young democracy from just the civil rights era. if you define it as being able to vote without barriers, it's still indanger. >> i wish we had more time. stay with us. much more ahead. look, if you have copd like me, you know it can be hard to breathe, and how that feels. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. much more ahead. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both.

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has the president at 50%, mr. romney at 47%. how much is the president staking on that state? >> reporter: well, martin, the importance of ohio can't be overstated. as you just pointed out, it is a very close race here. this is the president's firewall in large part because mitt romney is going to have a really tough path to 270 electoral votes without winning ohio. so president obama trying to hold onto this state, in part making the case today about the auto bailout. that is an issue that really resonates with voters, but the president really taking romney to task over his recent claim that jeep is shipping jobs overseas to china. it's a claim the romney campaign is standing by but one that's been smacked down by car executives as well as a number of newspapers here in the buckeye state. so it's a close race. president obama making his closing argument today, martin. >> kristin welker there in ohio. thanks so much. stay with us. our "top lines," the week in

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a monster storm and a monster presidential race collide. here are our "top lines," the week in review. >> don't be stupid, get out. >> take this very seriously. >> some people are nervous about the storm. >> the president has been outstanding. >> speedy and quick recovery from their financial and in many cases personal loss. >> is there any possibility that governor romney may go to new jersey. sn. >> i have no idea nor am i the least bit concerned or interested. >> i instituted a 15-minute rule. you return everybody's phone calls in 15 minutes. >> i cannot thank the president enough. >> governor christie has been aggressive. >> is it wrong for one man to love another man? >> sandy could wind up being the

october surprise. >> before obama got into the smithsonian couldn't mention global warming. heat, melting ice was just a theory. >> governor romney says he believes in climate change but he's not sure manmade changes are the reason. >> president obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans. >> i believe scientists. >> it was a monster storm. >> you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. >> michael brown, in charge of fema, is criticizing president obama. >> brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. >> brown would have said more but he was busy responding to katrina. >> garbage, crap, and nonsense. >> you're watching fox. you're hearing about a state department, the cia does nothing. >> you are misleading the american people. >> at least we don't live in swing state hell. >> jeep, now owned by the

italians, is thinking of moving all production to china. >> the biggest load of bull in the world. >> why do you say these things, mi romney? >> joe biden is using his teeth to illuminate hoboken. >> find that special someone in the early voting line. >> our destiny is in the hands of the american people. >> i will fight for you and your family every single day as hard as i know how. >> let's get to our panel, dana 34i8 bank is political columnist for "the washington post" and toure is my colleague and the co-host of "the cycle." desperate mitt, desperate measures. in your column this week you write, when the stakes are high, as they are for mr. romney, it must win ohio, the truth is often the first casualty. does that explain mr. romney's completely dishonest and disturbing ad about chrysler moving jobs from ohio to china? >> well, martin, this was a pattern even before and something i was pointing out -- >> so you're suggesting he's a pathological liar. >> well, there is some pathology to it. it doesn't seem like it just came out of left field here.

but when he had his back to the wall with rick perry, newt gingrich, rick santorum, you saw this sort of pattern. the fact checker at the waup has been -- "washington post" has been able to quantify this and he's at newt gingrich levels of honesty. >> oh, my goodness. >> president obama has gotten his share of pinocchios as well, but he's well within the range of normal politics. what romney has been doing here seems to be on a whole other plane, and that is to take something that is known to be false, it's been demonstrated to be false, retreat from it and go right back out and do it again. >> it's brilliant. toure, i mentioned earlier the fear that's been caused by these romney falsehoods about these workers losing their jobs. let's listen to how the president responded to that. >> you've got folks who work at the jeep plant who have been

calling their employers worried asking is it true, are our jobs being shipped to china? and the reason they're making these calls is because governor romney has been running an ad that says so. >> how are we supposed to trust a person who wants to be president who has so little regard for the lives of people? >> that's right. that's right. i mean, it's been an entirely post-truth campaign. the president has said a few things and had an ad that was shown to be not true and i pulled the ad right back. >> he actually wasn't responsible for that ad. >> and there's that as well. romney's campaign has been consistently post-truth which is a nice way of saying you are lying at a higher rate and at a larger rate than ever. i think we've consistently seen a lot of the endorsements that have gone for romney and said we don't actually know who he is, but we're going to go with that. we had a guest on our show today who said, well, i don't know what his plan is, but i like his style of leadership.

i'm like how do you say that? like i don't know exactly what you're going to do but i like the way you've done it in the past. what is that? >> i'm going to cut you short because you're not allowed to promote your own show on mine. >> in the sport of hypocrisy, mr. romney is really an olympian. what could be more hippo critical than going around thumping your chest saying i love business while at the same time disparaging chrysler? >> this gets into a realm of, you know, politicians, let's face it, are always shading the truth, but there aren't shades here. this is just plain wrong. the same thing happened with the -- when he was asked to explain how he would create 12 million jobs over 4 years. the campaign furnished three studies, provided them. those studies didn't prove anything at the time. so it's not -- this is just plain old black and white. this isn't about shading and spinning. this is about saying something that is just demonstrably false.

>> speaking of hypocrisy, rush limbaugh, that vat of poison, actually called someone else fat so that's hypocritical. that someone else is new jersey governor chris christie. for rush to do that must mean that rush is very, very angry with what appears to have been a working relationship between the president and the governor of a stricken state. >> well, absolutely. rush posed an interesting question in the montage. can a man love another man? and i see just from our relationship, i love you, i think you love me. a man can love another man. and if a man can't love another man, then we have serious problems in america because there's lots of men we need to come together. it's not just political expediency here. these people are doing something together, working together in a very important bipartisan way. these people who have said the president can't work bipartisanly in a way that completely avoids and ignores the fact of obstruction, so, i mean, that just destroyed that idea. the president is working and

taking care of the situation in a way that katrina was completely bungled and it's very interesting how the storm has arrived to show the president working with his thesis that we don't leave anyone behind. that government should be there for people. that we should be able to take care of people and a big effective government can do that. the tiny state by state government that mitt romney wants couldn't possibly do that. colbert made an excellent point of it would be great to have new jersey at a time when new jersey is struggling and under water take care of new jersey. new jersey, you pick up yourself. you're a whole state budget of $30 billion. the recovery will be $50 billion. you figure it out, new jersey. the federal government needs to be there for people and that's what barack obama is doing. >> dana, final question to you. as you look at this week from the perspective of the president, we had this historic disaster, but his response has been speedy and substantive. he's been bipartisan in the way he's handled it.

he's received the endorsement of an independent mayor, michael bloomberg, and today we have 171,000 new jobs created. would you say it's been a good week for the president? >> it certainly has been, martin, although maybe who says they know what's going to happen on tuesday is just making it up because it's that kind of election where you just don't know, but things have come together in this last week for the president in about as an ideal a way as it could. nobody was looking to this storm for a political advantage, but it has made the president look presidential and the jobs report was the last chance romney had to really undermine obama just before the election. so unless something unexpected occurs, he is riding something of a wave into tuesday. >> dana milbank and toure, thank you both, gentlemen, and a reminder, nbc will host a storm relief benefit concert and telethon tonight to raise money for the victims of sandy. matt lauer of the "today" show will be hosting performances by bruce springsteen, bon jovi, sting, billy joel, christina

aguilera, and more. that's all at 8:00 p.m. this evening. next, more on today's jobs numbers, but, first, why one whalen smithers thinks mr. romney is doomed. >> $10,000 bet, i like to fire people, forcible haircut, the tax returns that wesley snipes would call suspicious? ♪ ooh baby, looks like you need a little help there ♪ ♪ ooh baby, can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help. only align has bifantis, a patented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. try align to help retain a balanced digestive system. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. i've got a nice long life ahead.

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let's not freak out over hurricane sandy and think we need the feds. the response should simply be handled by whatever individual state is the entire eastern seaboard. >> mitt romney's view that fema be abolished and its responsibilities trans fered back to the states doesn't make much sense at the end of a week when a state like new jersey has been crippled by a hurricane. what's become clear is there are

some things in this world that an individual state or even the private sector simply cannot do on their own. i'm joined now by representative carolyn maloney, democrat of new york. good afternoon, ma'am. >> good afternoon. >> when you were here earlier this week, both of us, because we both live in new york, but you serve constituents who were grief-sti grief-stricken by what ha happened. you were worried about the jobs numbers. we now have them, 171,000 new jobs. 25 consecutive months of job growth, 5.5 million under that president. your reaction to that figure? >> we're marching in the right direction particularly when you put it in the perspective of what he first walked into. when he was elected this country was shedding over 750,000 jobs a month. because of his economic policies, we've been digging our way out of that deep red hole and providing more jobs for people and moving in the right collection. >> now, speaking going back for a moment to the disaster that's

happened this week and the storm, mitt romney has not answered a single question from any reporters for 23 days. would that be because he would have abolished fema if he had the power to do so and that now places him in a somewhat difficult position given what has happened? >> absolutely. because the first question would be, governor, you are obviously wrong. fema is doing an excellent job. fema is reacting to 17 states that were hit by this terrible storm, and at one time, martin, the storm was hitting both bermuda and the great state of north carolina at the same time. and not only was the federal response and reaction to it and protection of people in the first responsibility of the government is to protect our people, save lives, but the response, the recovery needs to be coordinated, too. >> he said give it back to the states. even the private sector can deal with it. >> he's obviously wrong. that's why he's not answering the question and furthermore he

chose as his running mate congressman ryan who has proposed to cut fema by 43%. tell that to the lines of people lined up to get water and food today and yesterday. these high rises, they have volunteers running up and down taking water and food to 345ema people that are seniors. i thought the timing of campaigning today with eric cantor in virginia, virginia is hard-hit, too, and eric cantor also advocated that there should not be one federal dollar spent for fema unless there was an offset where you cut, what, medicare, medicaid? what are you going to cut to account for any expenditure? and fema is saving lives. not only are they saving lives in this recovery with food and water and batteries and blankets, but the recovery. they have loans to help people get back on their feet, these small businesses that have lost all their produce, all their inventory, all their food. they don't even have the money

to restock. it will guarantee a bridge loan with the bank. >> i'm delighted you mentioned the great eric cantor because he was out campaigning, as you said. let's listen to what he said. >> this country is in desperate need of a leader who understands, first of all, that reasonable people can disagree. that's what this country is built upon is a spirit of cooperation, of understanding. >> mr. cantor has spent the last four years opposing absolutely everything that this president has tried to do to stir the recovery. you know this man. what is he talking about? he talks about cooperation, a spirit of understanding. have you ever seen eric cantor deliver that over the last four years? >> we have not, and i hope he will deliver it over the next four years. they spent the last four years trying to discredit and stop president obama in absolutely everything he tried to do to help people. they thwarted his jobs program,

thwarted many of his initiatives, and i'm all for bipartisanship, with he need to get back to work and avert the fiscal cliff. we need to work together to get people back to work and get this economy moving in an even stronger way, but based on history, they were not cooperative and if anything they stopped every single jobs-related economic development effort of the president. >> can i ask you about the new york marathon? because everybody everywhere is arguing about whether it should go ahead this weekend. we know that it raises a great deal of revenue and brings in a lot ever money to the state and to the city. what's your feeling about whether it should go ahead? >> it's a very special new york event, and it's special to me. my late husband ran 22 times in the new york marathon and it's very important to many people in the city and many that have traveled here to be here. there is a lot of people that are still hurting, particularly in staten island, people that

are -- two hospitals have been closed down. the only hospital serving people below 59th street, they're in a crisis situation trying to take care of everybody. there's many, many concerns, but i feel that the president, the governor, and the mayor are all doing extraordinary jobs in every city and state and federal employee. i don't want to second guess the mayor. i want to support him. we're in a crisis and we need to work together. his agencies are responding to my constituents. secretary sebelius will be in the city tomorrow. secretary lahood is coming. the head of fema is coming. >> congresswoman, i hate to cut you short. you didn't answer my question but i forgive you. thank you for coming in. mitt romney, eric cantor, bffs, heaven help us.

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mitt romney once implied that the unemployment rate would never drop under 8% under the current president and then it did. he then said the reason it was down was because people were leaving the workforce, but they weren't. they rejoined it. and so here is mr. romney's final assessment of why things are so bad, even though they're actually getting better. >> he said he was going to focus on creating jobs. instead, he focused on obama care which killed jobs, crippling unemployment conditions. i know when i'm elected the economy and the american job market will still be stagnant. >> rousing stuff there. joining us is ezra klein of the "washington post." good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> a jobs report this late into the election isn't likely to sway a significant number of voters, but for the past few months romney has kept losing his talking points.

what does he do now? >> well, i mean, he says it remains a bad economy which is not growing fast enough. i would actually give him one of the talking points you took. it's true people rejoined the labor force this month but a lot have dropped out of it since four years ago. the problem with the talking point, the problem with all of romney talking points is the entire economy is not about obama. romney does appear to believe the president has magic definitive powers about -- >> that is the central irony of this man's claim, isn't it? >> a couple years ago when george w. bush is being blamed for a weak economy, nothing like the one he bequeathed to president obama, romney said it is ridiculous to blame a president for a weak economy given that he came in during a recession. i mean, what was president bush supposed to do? recession began a little after he came in. of course it wasn't his fault. when he was president -- or when he was governor, i'm sorry, he

said the fact that they didn't have very good job growth in the first 11 months of his term couldn't be blamed on him. he had just gotten into office. and then under obama if you wipe out the first year of his term, which, of course, was a huge, huge drop in the global economy which nobody seriously blames on him, yeah, things look a lot better. romney has had to jettison a series of very, very sober analyses of the role that the executives actually play in economic growth in order to make these arguments. so, yeah, they shift will you the bigger problem is they're just fundamentally wrong. >> right. now, you have a post today called why campaign momentum is usually a bad sign, and you pour some water on the idea of mitt romney's momentum. can you explain this, ezra? because i thought momentum was always a good sign. >> so the argument in the post is if by the time the media begins calling momentum, usually the momentum stopped and we are beginning to revert back to where we were, so the media was calling a lot of momentum for

romney a week and a half ago into about a week ago. since then romney has dropped in the polls. if you look at the clear politics average of polls, romney has gone from about leading boo i a point and now barack obama last i looked earlier today was up by 0.3, 0.4. usually what happens to momentum is a number of things happen that take the race away from where it fundamentally is. a very close race becomes a three or four-point lead for obama or two or three-point lead for romney. before the media registers this is of a real thing, we begin calling it momentum. whatever run of good luck or unusual news or a very bad debate was happening and distorting the fundamental nature of the race has ended and the race pulls back to where it was originally which is a very close election with a persistent lead for president obama in swing states. that's exactly what you're seeing here. so my advice to partisans is when people begin calling momentum on their candidate, be prepared for things to be about to turn around in the polls.

>> lastly, if i can, ezra, on a different topic, your hero and mine, donald trump, tweeted today he will now fact check journalists everywhere. now, ezra, are you reduced to a quivering wreck as you fear the arrival of the great truth teller come birther donald trump? >> i have invited donald trump on twitter to come fact check, look at the work we do. i have done that because i find donald trump to be a hilarious clown and anything he does fills me with mirth and joy. >> had i will lairous clown. i mean, i thought he was a robu robust intellect and -- >> i believe he's the single most effective performance artist working in today. while we all think we're laughing at donald trump, his effective trolling of the whole nation means he's truly, truly laughing at us. >> ezra klein, brilliant. thank you.

we will continue our pre-election coverage live from democracy plaza with a special edition of our broadcast tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. saturday here on msnbc. we'll be right back. ride to mouth fun-town. but it's not like everyone is going to break into a karaoke jam session. ♪ this will literally probably never happen.

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